I have always enjoyed World Radio Magazine. And, when it was available as a print magazine, I had a "lifetime" subscription. I forget what it cost, but it seemed like a good deal at the time. I figured that I might live another 40 years or so, why not ? So, I paid a couple hundred dollars or something like that (I have no idea what I paid, now) to receive the magazine for the rest of my life.

Well, as you may or may not know, several years ago, World Radio Magazine was bought out by CQ Magazine, and they stopped producing a monthly print magazine. Instead, they put out a monthly magazine available free to anyone; online. It was the same magazine, and I enjoyed reading it on-line although I felt that I got screwed as a "lifetime" subscriber. Yeah, I could still read the magazine every month, but so could anyone else who never paid a dime for the privilage.

So this morning I find an email in my in-box from World Radio. Starting with the next issue (November Issue), they are going to start charging you to subscribe to read the magazine's ONLINE version. And, as a loyal reader of the magazine, they are offering me a smoking deal for a subscription.

Generous of them.

Am I going to pay them another dime: no chance

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I thought you said this was a weak signal mode ? I HAVE a weak signal and he still didn't hear me.

Same story here. I got the same email. I am going to respond with an email of my own.Most folks I have encountered in ham radio have been very honest,but I feel like the CQ group is nothing but a bunch ofthieves. I took the CQ magazine subscription when WR went to e-addition,and you can be sure I WON'Tpay them a dime when the subscription is up.

Whatever you think about Wayne Green W2NSD, when he was the editor or CQ Magazine itwas terrific. Issues chock full of good articles. I recently bought a single copy of CQ and itwas about as interesting as the local green sheet.Allen

I'm sorry to hear about the change to WR Online; I've enjoyed reading it, but it isn't so great that I'm likely to shell out any large amount of money for access to the online version. I wonder if they'll tell us who "Kurt N. Sterba" is before the site changes?

I gave up on CQ. Just too damn full of stuff I wasn't interested in, Strangely, that was why I gave up on 73 in the early 1970s - I just could not manage the orgasms that they were having over 2m repeaters.

The main reason I have for being an ARRL member is the financial support they give to getting people to represent amateur radio at the ITU in Geneva - where it really matters, and ARRL are the only national radio society who do. If I wasn't a life member of RSGB by virtue of having been President, I'm not sure I would even be a member.

You have to ask a lot of questions when spending money. When someone offers you a "lifetime subscription" you have to ask, what or who's lifetime? The lifetime of the magazine? The lifetime of the owners of the magazine? Your lifetime?

Selling lifetime subscriptions to old hams is not much of a gamble. However, buying a lifetime subscription to a magazine that is not from a not for profit organization that is well funded and can be considered perpetual (like the NRA) is a bad gamble.

It would be a gamble.If the magazine ceased to exist, that would be one thing. I gambled, enjoyed it while it lasted, and all good things eventually come to an end. However, that is not what is happening here. The magazine IS still being published, albeit in a different format.

I would speculate that the number of lifetime subscribers to WorldRadio magazine isn't many (although I have nothing to base this on except a guess). I think it would have been a show of goodwill by the publisher to honor those memberships.

AB7KTNRA Life Member

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I thought you said this was a weak signal mode ? I HAVE a weak signal and he still didn't hear me.

Yes....World Radio IS still being published although UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP (CQ magazine) and via a new electronic format replacing the printed format. Usually when a company acquires another company they ASSUME all the ASSETS and LIABILITIES of the company being acquired. But when CQ acquired WR, they (CQ) unilaterally decided we life-time subscribers would be compensated (paid off) with up to five years (I think this is correct) of CQ depending on how many years we had been taking advantage of our life-time WR deal.

I would think that the "lifers" should continue to have free access to World Radio.

"WorldRadio Online will be available for a variety of online platforms, including those for tablets and mobile devices. As a result of this upgrade and additional enhancements we're making to this product, we must return to paid single copy and multi-issue subscriptions for the magazine. You will be able to purchase single issues online for $2.99 each or a one-year subscription for $19.95. The online edition will be produced by Zinio, probably the best-known e-magazine host today. As a subscriber, as soon as an issue goes "live" you will receive notification that a copy has been placed in your Zinio online library - ready to view, print and/or download. Your issues will remain in your Zinio online library indefinitely! "

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I thought you said this was a weak signal mode ? I HAVE a weak signal and he still didn't hear me.

I took out a life subscription immediately before the deal to sell WR to CQ went public. They took my money and converted it into a CQ subscription. I had previously subscribed to CQ and CQ VHF and dropped them for various reasons. Since we were promised continued access to the online WR and I was stationed in Korea at the time (which made the online subscription handier for me), I really did not care too much.

Now, I feel cheated. If they were so close to going through with the deal, I think it would have been more fair to simply contact me and ask if I wanted to go through with the subscription.

Yes, they offered their various substitutions for CQ, etc. but now to go back on offering WR free on line...

Maybe they should just refund all of us lifers whatever we paid.

N3AWS

P.S.: I have been an ARRL life member for years and always felt ARRL treated it's members a lot better than CQ did it's subscribers.

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